*Author's Note*

Thank you for all the follows, favs, and reviews.

Blown Off Talks

Jessa POV:

Talking about Peter last night had drained a lot of energy out of Shaw, so when I woke up this morning to him sleeping deeply and clutching his pillow for dear life, I decided to just let him sleep in. After what transpired yesterday, I doubt that Devil Anse would even let him work today anyways. I knew how that cold and imposing man was. He didn't like to be embarrassed or for the family to be embarrassed; no doubt he felt shame and embarrassment by Shaw and Mary's fight since the entire Tug River Valley either saw it or heard (gossiped) about it.

I had fed Endor and placed him into his playpen before going into the kitchen to make breakfast. I had just placed a pan of biscuits into the oven whenever I heard Mary enter the kitchen with a small voiced greeting of, "Mornin', Jessa."

"Morning, Mary." I told her, turning around just in time to see her take a seat at the table. She was slumping in her seat and pouting. Clearly, she was upset over what happened yesterday. I let out a sigh, deciding to abandon my next task of putting a skillet of bacon on the stove, and went over to Mary's side. Taking a seat next to her, I asked, "How's your cheek?" It was a mix between red and purple, was slightly swollen too. I knew it must still hurt, but just asked about it as a way to start a conversation between us about yesterday's events.

"It's sore, but I'll live." Mary told me before going on to say in a nonchalant tone (which took me aback), "Mommy used to get slapped 'round worse from daddy. Her cheeks, jaw, nose, and eyes used to be swollen and black 'n' blue for weeks from it."

"Mary, honey, you know that Shaw didn't mean it." I softly told her, placing my hand in a motherly gesture on hers. "He's besides himself with hurt, blame, shame, and grief over it."

"Bet he is…" Mary muttered sarcastically under her breath.

"Don't be like that, Mary. Your brother really is upset about how he treated you."

"Wow, then it's the first time he cares about how he badly treats somebody."

"What does that mean, honey?"

"Means that he doesn't really care about anything, but him. He's like that character in that book Sully had me read. Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde."

"Mary, Shaw's nothing like that. He just lost his temper and didn't think when he slapped you out of a split-second action." I told her in a motherly tone resulting in Mary just giving me a blank stare of a look. She seemed determined to brush off what I was telling her. God, she could be hardheaded like her brother. Letting out a sigh, I went on to say in a mother type lecture, "I don't condone what he did, but I also don't condone what you did either. Shaw's your older brother and guardian, you need to respect him not scream in his face at the top of your lungs in a fair ground full of people."

"All I did was tell him how I felt. The only way to make him hear me was to scream at him."

"I think he got you made cause he caught you with Billy and called you out on it; that's why you screamed all those hurtful things at him."

"Of course, you're taking his side, he's your husband." Mary said bitterly, a bit too bitterly for her age, as she rolled her honey eyes at me.

Oh my god, trying to get thru to her was hard. She was deadest on hearing anything I said. Well, whether or not she wants to hear it, she's hearing it. Giving her a pointed look with my indigo eyes, I told her, "I'm not taking his side cause I'm married to him. I'm just trying to tell you that neither one of you were right." Mary didn't say a word, just stared at me. Sighing at her reaction, I told her, "See, Mary, there's no right side in this."

"Shaw didn't have to be so mean to Billy. All he did was tell me a joke." Mary huffed, completely missing the point of my speech.

God, Shaw was right. If I would've talked to her about this it would've went in one ear and out the other. Hell, that was more or less happening this morning too. Why couldn't Mary just listen to me? Why was she so adamant on making Shaw out as a villain when she's no exactly innocent either?

I let out a frustrated sigh before telling her, "But the thing is you're not even supposed to be around Billy in the first place. Especially after what went down hours before Lydia's birthday party."

"You're bein' a hypocrite, Jessa, since you had a baby with Tolbert." She told me in an unmoving tone that was too old for her young age. Narrowing her eye at me, she spat, "You saw Tolbert when Shaw was gone for those handful of months, but you're gonna tell me not to be Billy's friend. What you did was worse than being friends with a McCoy since you had a baby with one."

Of course, she'd throw my past sins up in my face. Cutting my indigo eyes at my sister-in-law, I sternly told her, "I'm an adult, don't go throwing things I've done up in my face. Since I'm older and wiser than you I'm only going to tell you this once, stay away from Billy McCoy unless you want him or even yourself to get hurt by Shaw. You know how your brother's temper can be."

Mary didn't saw a word, just stood up from the table and stormed over to the door. "I'm gettin' the eggs." She told me, her voice tight, before walking out of the backdoor and outside into the backyard.

Well, that talk went well…Went over like a lead balloon.

Breakfast was a very silent and tense affair. So much so that one could hear a pin drop. I swear, the only sound was that of chewing, sipping, and forks clattering against plates to scoop up scrambled eggs with. Honestly, the heaviness in the air felt stifling. Hell, even the kids (baby Endor included) were quiet. Usually Endor made some kind of noise like a goo or a chuckle when either me or Shaw fed him breakfast, but not this morning. Nope, my baby was silent as I fed him. It was as if him and his siblings could pick up on the tense energy in the room.

Todd ate so fast that it wasn't even funny. Once he was done, he took off to the livery down town. It was as if he couldn't get out of the house quick enough. Shortly after he took off, Mary got up and told us 'I'm done; I'm going upstairs to do my schoolwork' before speed walking away from the table and upstairs to her room. After the rest of us were done, I let Silas and Lydia go to the main room to play with their toys, which were in a toybox.

Currently, I was washing the dishes while Shaw was sitting at the table sipping on his second cup of coffee while letting Endor sit on his lap. "So, you still thinking 'bout having a talk with my sister? If so, I doubt she's gonna listen since she's actin' like a fuckin' brat."

"I already talked with her this morning after I put the biscuits in the oven." I told my husband while rinsing off a dish, drying it, and setting it aside on a nearby counter.

"Oh, how'd that go?" Shaw asked, sounding genuinely curious about my talk with Mary, as he set his mug down on the table with a slight clunk.

I let out a heavy sigh as I rinsed off another plate. "Just like you said it would, in one ear and out the other." Drying off the plate and setting it aside, I added in, "She even threw up my past sins when it comes to you and you know who up into my face too."

"She's an 11-year-old brat. Mary's got no right to worry about what you did cause you're an adult, one that's raisin' her, and she's a child."

"I know, Shaw, and I told her that." I sighed, scrubbing out a frying man in soapy dishwater.

"Once you're done doin' up the dishes I'll go upstairs and give her a stern talkin' to 'bout respectin' you." Shaw told me, wanting me to know that he wasn't going to put up with his sister talking back to me.

"Shaw, don't do that." I sighed, scrubbing the frying pan as hard as I could to get all of the bacon grease residue out of it. I always poured the grease into a jar to use for flavoring up greens and other bitter vegetables, but there was also some tiny bits of residue left behind. Shaking my head, I looked over my shoulder at my husband and told him, "She can't stand you right now; you'll only make things worse."

"Well, she's gotta know that if she's gonna disrespect you and yell at me then she's gonna get dropped off at Granny Delize's, where she'll learn the true meaning of respect."

"Hell…you're serious about sending her to Granny Delize's in Tazewell, aren't you?" I asked, drying the frying pan I just cleaned and placing it onto the nearby counter.

"Dead serious. At least there Billy McCoy won't be sniffing her ass like a dog in heat." Shaw told me in a no nonsense tone, picking up his coffee cup and taking long a sip of it.

Shaw POV:

"Thought you were gonna be doin' your school work?" I dryly asked me sister as soon as I walked into her room and saw her sitting on her bed, crocheting a square that was either goin' to become a potholder or a piece of an afghan.

Glancing between me and the yarn square in her hand, my little sister snipped in an offended tone, "Now you're checkin' up on me?"

"I'm your older brother and you live under my roof so if I wanna check up on you, I can." I told my sister, leaning against the doorjamb and giving her a pointed look as I crossed my arms over my chest. Mary didn't say a word, just rolled her honey eyes (very disrespectfully) at me as she crocheted her square without missin' a beat. "Mary, throwin' shit up that you don't even know the full story about into my wife's face is uncalled for and disrecpectful. I won't stand by and silently let'cha get away with talkin' shit to Jessa either."

"I wasn't disrespectful to her, Shaw. All I did was tell her that she was being a hypocrite telling me to stay away from Billy while she got pregnant with Tolbert when you were gone."

I was so fuckin' mad at hearin' my sister's dumbass confession that if I was Superman, I'd be disintegratin' her with a red laser look. How the fuck did she think she was? My honey eyes were burnin' an angry amber as I stared down my sister and told her in a very stern and deep tone, "First off, you were a disrespectful brat and second off, you don't know the details 'round Endor's conception or why I was gone in the first place. You were out of line, so fuckin' out of line that's it's not even funny."

Without takin' her eyes off of the brown square she was making, my sister had to nerve to tell me, "I wasn't out of line; all I did was tell the truth. Seems like neither you nor her can handle the truth."

"You're on real thin ice, ya lil brat." I bluntly told her, earnin' me an eye roll. Goddamnit, what the fuck was wrong with her? This attitude had to be learned from that auburn fucker, Billy. Pointing a finger at Mary, I told her the blunt honest truth of, "Next time ya buck head with me or Jessa I'm droppin' your ass off at Granny Delize's in Tazewell. If anyone'll get'cha to behave it'll be her." Dropping my arms to my sides, I sternly asked Mary, "You understand me?"

"I understand." She nodded, looking up at me in hopes that I'd be pacified by her answer.

Honestly, I didn't believe a word comin' out of her disrespectful mouth. It'd just be a wait and see game when it came to her slippin' up or not. But as god is my witness, next time she gets out of line I'm takin' her to Granny Delize's myself and telling that old hag about Mary's little 'friendship' with Billy along with her sassy mouthin' off.

"Good. Now, stop crochetin' and get your nose burried in your schoolbooks." I ordered before pushin' myself off of the doorjamb and walkin' off down the hallways, leavin' my sister alone in her room once more.

It's been a couple of days since shit went down 'tween me and my sister on the 4th of July and I was still home instead of being at the logging camp, working. Turns out, my outburst (even tho Mary provoked it) embarrassed Devil Anse, so much so that he had his lap dog (oh I meant his faithful lieutenant and son) Cap come over on the 5th to tell me that I was furloughed (once a fuckin' 'gain) til further notice. Not that I was surprised since everytime I did something Devil Anse didn't like I got put on the back burner, so to say, when it can to work.

I didn't mind bein' home tho. It gave me more time to spend with Jessa and the kids, something I greatly cherished. It also meant that I was able to dabble in my true passion, trainin' horses. I had a colt I needed to train. Also, one of the mares was pregnant so I had to make sure to feed her a bit extra. Yea, honestly, I enjoyed workin' with horses. It was just peaceful (or at least it was in my opinion). I couldn't wait til Silas and Endor were old enough to learn 'bout horses. I'm hoping at least one of 'em will pick up the horseman trait.

I was in the corral, doin' a trainin' exercise with the unbroken colt, Star (named for the star birthmark he had on his face) whenever I heard the sound of boots echoin' in the air. I didn't think much 'bout it, figurin' maybe Todd decided to come home for lunch or something. I was goadin' Star to run circles 'round me in the corral as an attempt to wear down his spirit and get him to see that I was in charge (was the Alpha) whenever I heard, "We need to talk, son.", sound out from behind me; makin' me cringe.

Damn, of course, Sully would bother me while I'm training a colt for a talk. No doubt it's gonna be about what happened on the 4th of July.

I let out a heavy sigh before turnin' 'round and walkin' over to the post my dad was standin' at. "So, you're here to talk 'bout the 4th of July." I bluntly stated, not asked, Sully as I came up to the corral post while my colt trotted aimlessly behind me.

"Yes, I'm here to talk about what happened." Sully confirmed my remark as I leaned my elbows against the corral, giving him an unamused look. Clearing his throat, he told me, "Our cousin, Anse, along with countless other people have made it known to me that your lack of self-control while publicly disciplining Mary is very embarrassing and makes our family look bad."

"Of course, Devil Anse and a bunch of gosspin' old whores think I'm so horrible for smackin' my sister in a rage." I scoffed, not surprised that the Hatfieds and a bunch of other assholes don't approve of what I did. Before I could think, the bitter words of, "Hell, they're so upset that I smacked Mary, but they didn't lift a goddamn to help me and mom, well anyone us really, when Peter was on a drunken bender beatin' the fuckin' shit outta us.", fall out of my mouth like a landslide.

"Son, the situation with Peter was different. He never hit his family in public therefore nobody got involved cause it simply wasn't their business." Sully told me in his teacher's tone. God, how I hated that tone. It always made me feel dumb or uneducated since he always tried to prove why he was right and I was wrong when he used it. Shit, even back when I was in his history class in high school, he tried to outsmart me when I answered questions by cutting me down and adding in his 'yes, but…" bullshit. He gave me this look that I deemed the 'lecture is coming' look as he told me, "You on the other hand…Well, you made hitting your sister a public matter which doesn't make you shine in a good light in the public or family eye."

"Oh no, it must be so devastatin' for ya to have the family embarrassment as your son. Especially since you're so fuckin' perfect, Schoolmaster Sully." I sarcastically scoffed at my dad. Before he could say a word, I went on to tell him, "Don't you dare tell me how to raise my siblings and kids or that I make the family look bad. You of all people don't got that right since you're a piece of shit dad, who's more of a fuckin' tourguide then a dad anyways."

"I'm not a 'tourguide', son. I know I didn't come into your life until your were a teen, but I was a good dad to you."

"Yea, you keep tellin' yourself that and hopefully one day you'll actually believe it."

"Shaw Hector, don't be like this. I didn't come here to fight with you. I came by to-" He began only for me to cut him off with, "Came by to what? Do Devil Anse's bidding and have a talk with me 'bout how I need to be more subtle while out and about cause my ways make the fuckin' Hatfields look bad? Hmm?" Shakin' my head, I dryly told him, "I got a colt to train, so if you'd go and leave me to it that'd be great."

"Son-" Sully began in a tentative tone only for me to cut him off with a shout of, "Don't fuckin' son me, Sully! Now leave me the fuck alone so I can train my goddamn horse!"

Sully POV:

My son was unraveling and it was a bit unnerving. I didn't know how to reach out to him in a way that wouldn't get me yelled at. I knew that talking to him about what happened at the festival would be hard and touchy, which is why I gave him a couple of days to cool off. Never did I think he'd get so nasty and hateful with me for trying to have a serious discussion with him.

I shook my head in defeat as I watched my son pivot on his heel and go back over to the colt he was trying to break. I didn't say a word; didn't move an inch either, but instead just watched my son work with the horse. Shaw seemed at ease with the animal as he quickly started to spin a rope (or was it a lasso or unhooked reign) in the air as he waked up to the colt, makin' the animal run around the corral. I reckon it was some kind of pre-breaking exercise, but I wasn't sure since I didn't know anything about horses (other then buying one that was rider ready). Gosh, my boy looked so peaceful while working with his colt, so much so that if I didn't know who he was I'd think he was just a simple horse trainer enjoying his work.

Knowing I needed to get back to the school, I turned around and started my walk towards the hitch-post in front of the house. I looked back at my son from over my shoulder only to see him working that horse effortlessly. If only he was so focused and hardworking with the other aspects in his life. Shaking my head, I continued towards where I had my horse hitched.

AN:

So, what do you guys think about this chapter? Well, it's certainly setting up some future events, that's for sure. Anyways, next chapter should be some year old birthdays in the Hatfield clan along with a quick check in with Tolbert.